ALAN Bennett is the toast of Broadway after winning an amazing six Tony awards for his play The History Boys - a play which comes to Birmingham this summer.

A wry look at the battle between traditional and trendy education ideas, The History Boys swept the boards at the weekend's New York theatre awards with a record matched by only one other play, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman in 1949.

Among the honours, The History Boys took best play, best director for Nicholas Hytner, best actor for Richard Griffiths, best actress for Francis de la Tour, best lighting and best design.

And the man behind it, playwright Alan Bennett, was confident the Americans would appreciate what he was trying to say.

"I always thought this play would go down well in New York because it is so English," he says. "And really it can work anywhere. The central story of the play does not need an explanation - every country has questions about education and learning."

And he is right. Since premiering in May 2004, the play has been a huge success at London's Lyttleton Theatre, was a hit at this spring's Hong Kong Arts Festival and has toured Australia and New Zealand. Now it is coming to the regions with its UK tour kicking off at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in August.

It is one of a string of successes for Bennett, who many would argue is the UK's greatest living playwright. Having penned numerous classics such as Habeas Corpus, Single Spies, The Madness of George III, Kafka's Dick and The Lady in the Van for theatre, screenplays for A Private Function and Prick Up Your Ears plus the massively popular series of monologues Talking Heads, he now takes us into the classroom of a group of Oxbridge hopefuls.

In The History Boys, a state school head teacher desperate to get his boys into the prestigious alumni of Oxford and Cambridge decides help is needed. Suddenly the boys are the battle ground between two teachers - old-style classics-loving eccentric Hector and the new ideas man Irwin keen to impress by simply being clever.

For the regional tour, Anton Rodgers is playing Hector but the rest of the cast has yet to be announced.

Alan, who believes he gained his place at Cambridge by playing the system, says the play is not autobiographical but does draw on memories of his own school days.

"I went to a state grammar school in Leeds in the 1950s and our sixth form was the first to send boys to Cambridge and Oxford and to that extent it mirrors my experience," he says. "But I never had a charismatic teacher like Hector. We had very practical types of teachers - more like the head teacher in this play.

Alan says the play explores education but does not aim to offer any solutions.

"There are so many points of view in the play. There are various bits that give messages but there is not one central message," he says.

But he clearly feels strongly about education and admits to being disappointed the play has not prompted more intellectual interest.

"There is a lot of debate in the play but it is very rare that I have seen the play cited in any arguments or discussions about education. It's a bit depressing that because it's a funny play it is not thought of as a serious play.

"People think that if you make people laugh then it ain't worthwhile. But if you have long periods of silence and people walk away feeling all doom and gloom then people think you have something more serious to say."

When The History Boys was first directed by Nicholas Hytner in London the cast featured a host of young lads just out of school and Alan admits he was surprised at how little they seemed to have gleaned from their education.

"In some ways the rehearsals were actually like a class with me having to explain who Auden, Housman and Larkin were. Most of them had left school at 16 and just didn't know.

"There is also a scene conducted in French and nobody spoke French. I was explaining the difference between le and les. I said this was because it was plural and the lad who was saying it had no idea what plural meant. It is shocking in a way but not surprising. It makes you realise how rudimentary education is today."

Alan Bennett's The History Boys is at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from Aug 31 to Sept 16. Call 0121 236 4455 or visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk for details.